every purpose in ordinary work. Or it mav be a slip of glass which 
may be pushed through a slot in the eye- piece. Neither one ought, 
to cost more than from one to two dollars, and ought to be afforded 
for every microscope in use in the laboratory.— C7iar/e5 E. Bessey. 
The QuESTioiq-s of Nomenclature. — For some months a lively 
discussion has been going on in this country and England upon a 
few questions as to the proper interpretation of the laws relating to 
botanical nomenclature, the discussion in some cases broadening out 
so as to take in the inquiry as to the validity of certain laws, and 
the expediency of enacting new ones. *' Shall we rigidly enforce 
the law of priority ?'' is the question which is causing the greatest 
disquiet just now. On the one hand we have those who urge its 
rigid enforcement, while on the other are those who say wnth Prof. 
Babington, ♦'* I think that we are going too far in enforcing the 
rule of priority in nomenclature as it is now attempted." {Jour. 
BoL, Dec, 1888.) 
Then there is the question as to the citation of the authoritv in 
case of a removal of a species from one genus to another. Shall we 
cite Linnaeus still in case we remove one of his species into a genus 
which he may not even have known ? If we do, we make him (say 
those of one party) say what he never said, while to cite as the au- 
thority the name of the author of the combination makes us lose 
sight of Linnaeus as the originator of the specific name and the de- 
scriber of the species. Upon this we merely inquire now whether 
we are to consider primarily the men who have worked in systemat- 
ic botany, or the men who are working now and who will work 
after we are gone. Is all this matter of the citation of authorities 
for the purpose of " doing justice " to men, or for conducing to 
ntific accuracy? Bo botanists think more of the " glory '' of the 
""'""' "" "'" -^ t of the science? We shall return to 
Botany in St. Louis.— The recent reception of a volume of the 
Iransactions of the Academy of Science of St. Louis (Vol. V., Nos. 1 
and 2) reminds us of the work in botany which is being done in 
this Western city. Of the thirteen papers published, five are botani- 
cal, as follows : A Revision of the North American Linacete, by Wil- 
liam Trelease; Description of Lycoperdon missoiiriense, by Wil- 
liam Trelease: On the Pollination of PJiIomis tuherosa L. and 
the Perforation of Flowers, bv L. H. Pammel ; Measurements of 
the Tnmorphic Flowers of Oxalis suksdorfii, by W. G. Eliott. Jr.; 
Observations suggested by the preceding paper, by William Trelease. 
In the first-mentioned paper twenty-one species of Linum are 
recognized as natives of North America. They are grouped under 
three tribes, viz.: (1) Enlinum, which includes L. Jeivisii Pursh 
( - //. perenne Auct). (2) Linastrum, including L fJoridamwt 
1 release (L. virginiamim, var. FloridanumV\?kX\ch). L.virginiamim 
L., L, stnatiivi, Walt. , L. neo-mexicanum Greene, L. kingii Watson, 
